RIE to be part of NCERT study on students' curricular competencies

The Regional College of Education (RIE), here, would be part of an elaborate survey of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to study the curricular competencies of students across the nation, an extension of the National Achievement Survey (NAS), in September.

Addressing reporters on Friday, principal Y Sreekanth said, “NAS will be conducted for Classes 3, 5 and 8 on the basis of ‘Learning Outcomes’ as developed by the NCERT, which have been incorporated in the Right to Education (RTE) Act. For the first time, NAS will be conducted at the district level, thus providing a decentralised picture of the quality of school education while also allowing a comparison between districts.”

He said that during the past three NAS, which started in 2001 and was conducted periodically with states as units, around 2.5 lakh students were subject to the survey but now, nearly 35 lakh students will be covered. “Besides, the earlier NAS and action of their outcomes was spread over three years, the current NAS will be completed at one stretch with the help of members of District Institutes of Education Training (DIETs) and the recommendations would be made immediately to enable action by the respective state governments within one year of the start of the survey. The feedback on the survey will also be shared with the respective schools, immediately,” he said.

“The RIE will support the states in developing curricular competencies among students, across subjects, as part of the implementation of the Learning Outcomes. In this connection, a three-day workshop will be conducted from July 10, which will be taken up at the district, block and school levels by the states for the conduct of NAS,” he said.

‘CCE misconceptualised’

Sreekanth said that, “The Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) has been misconceptualised by making it a part of summative assessment. There has been an increase in the failure or dropout rate after Class 8. Unlike CBSE, states have decentralised monitoring units such as DIETs, BRCs and CRCs. Steps will be taken to strengthen the capacities of teachers and teacher educators to effectively implement CCE at the school level. RIE will emphasise on various forms of assessment, including self, peer and group work.”

He said that there are gaps between the objectives of the NCERT (curriculum competencies) and what the boards are doing (scores in examinations). “Why should an exam be conducted for three hours on a set of questions which have pre-determined answers? Why can’t a single critical question be posed which would allow the child to think? Not all toppers in board exams have satisfactory curriculum competencies. Just over 5% of the top 25% scorers match the expected curriculum competencies,” he said.

“India has participated in the Programme for International Students’ Assessment (PISA) only once, represented by students from Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and we came second from the last, among 76 participating countries. So, there is a lot to be done in education. That is where NAS plays a vital role,” he said.

Head of Extension Education Kalpana Venugopal and former director of Rangayana H Janardhan among others were present.